The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center are announcing on Friday the opening of a center to provide monoclonal antibody treatments to patients with COVID-19.

The temporary center, which will be only the third in the country, will treat patients who are referred there by their physicians.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced molecules that act as substitute antibodies that can restore, enhance or mimic the immune system’s attack on cells.

Monoclonal antibody treatments have been shown to decrease hospitalization rates in people at highest risk for severe cases of the disease from COVID-19, according to the federal DHHS. The medicines are administered through an intravenous infusion treatment. The infusion of the therapeutic medicine and medical observation together take approximately two-and-a-half hours.

Speakers scheduled for the news briefing include Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center CEO Todd P. Sklamberg and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steven R. Merta; and Dr. John Redd, chief medical officer, and Lynn Hayes, commander of the Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, both of whom are assistant secretaries for preparedness and response at the U.S. DHHS.

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